My mint condition 86' Alfa Romeo Spider would not start after I drove down into the city for dinner from upstate. I called for a tow and storage until Monday where I wanted them to tow it to an Alfa shop in Brooklyn. When I called them on Monday, they said they can repair it because they have certified mechanics and they have worked on Alfas. Called back numerous times Monday and late Monday they told me they absolutely will get to it tomorrow but I once again told them only to look at it and if they could not tell me within an hour of shop time what was wrong with it, I wanted it towed over to the shop in brooklyn. Tuesday I called and they told me its just a tune up issue. I told them the car was just fully restored and I did not believe that was the problem but they assured me thats all it was and I authorized them to proceed based upon a verbal estimate of about $300 for repairs. He told me to pick it up @ 6. When I get there (2 hour bus trip down) the car was starting but would not run, they tell me I need a complete distributor ($600) and still not sure but maybe ECU ($1000). I told them I would bring them another ECU but when I get there the next day, I discovered that they had the firing order all mixed up and when I straighten it out the car was exactly as I brought it in... Not starting. The mechanics (who didn't speak any english) that were working for them were not what they said nor did they ever work on any Alfas. The bill was $459, I argued with them and they reduced to$359 for doing absolutely nothing but making it worse. I had to have it towed ($200) to the Brooklyn shop where they had to replace the wrong parts just to start to see what the real problem was.
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